But lots of oyster tastes from Cancal, LA FAMILLE BOUTRAIS. THEY THOUGHT i was nuts to take the shell away..

LA BEURRE BORDIER tends to hide behind their mountains of falvored butters. Getting a taste here is like pulling teath...ahem

You can't buy the products at this even. Strictly tasting and best to go the last morning. Less crowds. More, bigger tastes. Most of the time.

Except with jam/confiture. Here you can taste till you drop. Just svp do not double dip!

There are top chef lectures in the grand hall...good practice for your French but no tastes. I did not stay.

A lovely homage to PAUL BOCUSE from his china company. I used to have this bowl- left it in NYC

Speakng of which...by the time you receive this I will be on Norwegian heading back there for 5 days to retrieve a few things and eat a Nathan's. Just when Picard decides to have a US ptomotion too! Ha

Sunday, March 04, 2018

There are a lot of food fairs this weekend in Paris. Yesterday I visited SALON INTERNATIONAL DE L'AGRICULTUREat Porte de Versailles (ligne 12). Today is the last day so get over there vite.

Meet the star of the show, Haute, an Aubrac cow, on most Paris buses and in the Metro this week. She is 6 years old and grew up in Laguiole, Aveyron. Inquiring minds etc.

She's on the Salon's shopping bag of course.

I don't know the numbers of visitors but there are tons of people of all ages visiting SIA. Very well-behaved too.p

I only made it to Halle 3 where 13 regions of France have their products on offer. Plus tourist info for each region.

A huge array of honey.

Maybe they should change the name to Salon de Confiture - so many jam makers. And the variety of flavors: Figue orange, blueberry citron, saffron apricot, apricot lime, strawberry mint..you get the idea.

A giant basket of products from Normandy i would have been happy to take home.

Endless cheeses

The French like their organic vegetables with the dirt left on svp. Proof of terroir?

No dirt on these veggies

Halle 3 has possibly 20-25 regional restaurants inside or just sit down on the floor and munch.

Lavandre from the Provence section.

Violet garlic from Cadours. I picked one up to inhale and was offered free samples to take home. No problem. Corsican stands were selling a kilo of almonds in the shell for 6€. I couldn't pass up their fabulous Clementine jam. Today I'm off to Omnivore Paris food fair, a rather more upscale event with top chef demos and lectures at Maubert-Mutualite. Mer et Vin is on at Champerret.

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Saturday, March 03, 2018

Some of you reading David Lebovitz' book L'APART said you'd love see his renovations. You'll see plenty of inside views if you go to David's INSTAGRAM STORIES + fun recipe videos. By the way you can NOT see any Instagram Stories unless you are signed in. There will be a red ring around the person's avatar. Note that stories stay up only 24 hrs and then disappear. My Stories are usually Paris weather reports or pastry I've seen that day...

I found out about this brocante on David's instagram (David's photo) and ran there last Sunday. More flea info on EVOUS.

No matter how cold out, Parisians will come out to hunt through a flea market.

I could have used this old fur as a blanket last week. Paris reached single digits (18 degrees but feels like 8). Ouch. Ah the joys of living in a chambre de bonne.

Ready-to-wear hats for the cold on sale.

Warm up at the crepe stand in the flea

Or cross the street to Cafe Gaston jam-packed with coffee drinkers.

Blue workman jackets were 55€. I got mine in the Deauville marché for 40€.

Valentino was way too high for me...

Just the ticket. What's more fun than a box of dollar stuff?

Tons of beautiful silverware. I'm always looking for still life material.

Wish I'd taken a closer look at this pile of glassware

Bright art deco tableware from a more high-end dealer.

A couple of Sundays ago there was a street brocante on boulevard Saint Germain.

I jumped off the 86 bus for a look. I really prefer the more casual fleas with simple card tables like this one and no glass cases. You can easily touch and pick up stuff for a closer look.

I found a child's lustre ware tea set for 7.20€ (all that was left in my purse). Now to find the little cups...

This child's 2" cafe au lait bowl (4€) was at La porte de Vanves flea, held every Saturday/Sunday. Take Bus 58 from Odeon and you're there.

The demi tasse cup and saucer I got there for a fiver. Going late around noon at closing time makes bargaining easy. I don't remember which flea had Bear's brother. Too late now. For more tips see David's post on Paris brocantes and flea markets.

Paris Letters

♥carol gillott♥

l'Ile Saint Louis, Paris, Ile de France, France

Hi I'm Carol Gillott,
My Mom taught me watercolors at 5. I'm still at it, now tripping over cobblestones, living in a 6th-floor garret on l'Ile Saint-Louis, Paris. Read Parisbreakfast with a hot chocolate and croissant.
I paint Paris breakfasts.